Labour confident to keep administration

In deciding its 2018-19 budget last week, Harrow Council agreed that the authority will not spend beyond its means in the coming year.
Therefore, like most local authorities across the country, Harrow Council also raised council tax this year. The rate is rising by 2.99% plus 0.5% in a government-authorised precept to pay for rising costs of adult social care.
In the council election year, many UK councils use their reserves to overspend and keep council tax down to keep the voters happy but Harrow did not! Such a bold step indicates that Labour is confident to retain the council without bribing for votes.
As part of the budget, Harrow Council will provide £9 million in new spending for the most essential services that the borough’s most vulnerable residents rely on. This includes almost £3 million for children’s services and nearly £6 million for adults and social care.
“We believe Harrow people want to care for the vulnerable and make our borough clean – and we will continue to devote our efforts to those causes, within our means” said the council leader Cllr Sachin Shah.
Harrow has announced £7.4 million of budget savings – partly found by reducing services and funding to external organisations, and partly found through back-office cutbacks and creative and innovative ways of making the council more efficient.